A New Outdoor Banner Series

out there is a new series of banners on the exterior of the Thunder Bay Art Gallery.

Take a drive by the gallery at 1080 Keewatin St and experience images, stories, and moments by new creative voices in northern Ontario.

Each banner is a bold new canvas for artists, designers, and makers who experiment with new media, take new paths in artistic careers and claim space beyond traditional art gallery walls. Be out there.

Damien Bouchard is a photographer and filmmaker based in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Born and raised in Geraldton, he found his passion for motion pictures after graduating Geraldton Composite High School which lead him into the TV Broadcasting Program at Confederation College. Over the past 10 years, he continued to grow his skill set and keep current with technology through applied practice and learning many aspects of film making through online tutorials. He never stopped picking up his camera or finding a moment to capture.

He began Crow Creations in 2017 as a platform to create digital media for local companies and film productions. During the start of the pandemic, he shifted his attention to landscape and portrait photography while in isolation. Growing up in the secluded Greenstone region and being of First Nations descent, Damien felt isolation long before the pandemic. He finds beauty in the natural, isolated territories he ventures into. Most of his scenes are mundane, everyday sights. Damien tries to see it differently and captures moments to share with others, in hopes that others can look at it in a new way, too.

About the image

This pond is right outside Aroland First Nation. My grandparents Walter and Mary Gagnon had a small camp near Clover Lake which is located a few hundred meters away. Every time I pass by either coming home to visit or leaving back to the city it always reminds me of them and all the other ancestors that have passed on. While editing the image, I thought it looked like an ancestor and the hard shadows resembled long hair. I remember that one day I too shall return to the land forever.

Aroland Top Down was shot on a 12-megapixel drone camera at the beginning of spring thaw.

Damien Bouchard, Aroland Top Down, drone photography, 8 x 16 ft, 2021